A visit to my old college.
I recall swimming fully clothed
across the lake during Rag Week!

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The visit was a few weeks ago. The college is no more, the old mansion building is now posh apartments, the other buildings are gone and a new housing estate occupies much of the grounds. The lake was not very big, more like a very large pond. When does a pond become a lake? It was probably on that cusp!

In peace beside the lake
the elves dwell, beneath the trees,
in clear sight yet unseen
by human eyes.

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These woody growths, seen at Tatton Park in Cheshire, UK, are known as ‘tree knees’. They are right-angled protrusions from the roots that certain trees produce when growing in boggy places. It is not known why trees produce them but one theory is that it enables the roots to ‘breathe’ when the ground is saturated. Due to their convenient right-angled shape they were often used in boatbuilding for fixing bulkheads.